Experimental hybridization created new sex chromosome in swordtail fish

Fishes, unlike mammals that use the standard XX, XY chromosomal mechanism, have a wide variety of sex determination systems. Why this is the case, is currently unknown.

The better understand sex chromosomes in fish, scientists performed hybridization experiments with swordtail fish with different sex chromosome systems. After more than 100 generations of fish, spanning over 30 years, an evolutionary new sex chromosome was obtained.

The work shows that hybridization can speed up the evolution of sex chromosomes. Moreover, the study offers new insights into the genomic consequences of the long-term experimental hybridization in fish.

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